Amusement park attractions have included bumper boats as a participatory ride allowing participants to steer their vehicles in a pool of water and bump into one another at a safe speed. Some bumper boats are also equipped with a water sprayer such that participants can spray at one another, increasing the level of interaction between participants of the ride. The present invention improves the entertainment value over prior art bumper boat attractions by adding an interactive target system that takes the ride to an even higher level of participation and interaction.
A brief summary of prior art patents relating to the general field of water-based amusement is provided as follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,179,173 for a water control system teaches that the combination of a control system and water effects can be a fun way to have people in a water park or water play area interact with targets or sensors triggering water effects. However, it does not in any way teach or suggest incorporation of any such arrangement into a bumper boat attraction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,026 shows a moving vehicle shooting gallery where participants riding in boats on a track can spray targets as they pass to activate water effects and score points. Participants cannot control their boat nor can the boats contact other boats.
U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2007/0087850 adds competition to water play areas and tube rides. The amusement attraction involves participants actively competing in certain events or on a tube ride, but does not apply to bumper boat areas where participants can steer their boats.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,786,830; 5,149,048; and 5,820,471 all relate to water effects being generated in participatory water play structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,687 describe control systems for water amusement devices relating to water play areas
Tornado Company in the UK (www.tornado-uk.com) has a remote control boat game where participants drive remote control boats and try to dock them or maneuver through obstacles which may produce an effect, but participants do no ride in the boats and water effects are not directed at other participants.
A similar system is installed at Disneyland in 1999 by Thola Productions (www.thola.com).
In addition, Tornado offers a bumper car system in which participants can shoot an infrared beam at other participants, and a hit will cause the other participant to spin. It does not have a target to bump nor water effects to spray participants or observers. Furthermore, this is not a bumper boat attraction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,914 describes a bumper boat system where boats can be steered by participants and participants can spray one another with water guns. It uses water pulses to power these boats but does not use a target on the side of the pool to trigger water effects.